1. Technical Field
The embodiment of the invention relates generally to test automation and particularly to managing testbed environments as role-oriented testbed environments for use in test automation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Test automation refers to the use of test software, or a test script, separate from the software being tested, to control the execution of the test on the software being tested. The software being tested, and the platform upon which the tested software runs, is referred to as a testbed environment. In a distributed software environment of multiple autonomous software components running on one or more systems that communicate with one another, the testbed environment for a distributed software environment is a complex environment, where the more complex the testbed environment, the greater the time overhead associated with coding test software to test the test bed environment.
Test automation software that is parameter-based uses single variables in the code for the test software to control logic flow of the test software on a particular configuration of host platforms in a particular testbed environment. Coding a parameter-based test automation to run on a particular configuration of host platforms of a distributed software environment, using single variables to control logic flow for the test software referring to specific host platforms, requires a significant number of parameters and complex procedural scripting, and results in test software that is inflexible for testing the software components distributed across different host platforms and test software that is difficult to maintain in response to changes within the testbed environment.